The San Francisco 49ers made one move on Tuesday by adding veteran wide receiver Keenan Allen. According to ESPN, the Niners were snooping around for tight end help before the trade deadline:
The 49ers looked around for tight end help, and the Broncos’ Evan Engram was on their radar. But they landed on Keenan Allen, who’s a bigger receiver and perhaps serves some of the same functions in the offense.
Ingram lines up as an inline tight end 44% of the time for the Denver Broncos this year, compared to
40.9% in the slot and 14.5% outside. He’s listed at 6’3″, 240 pounds. The 32-year-old has an average depth of target under five yards this season.
If you remove the tight end tag, Engram is essentially interchangeable with Allen. They’d move around the formation and run underneath routes.
In the same article, Dan Graziano said, “The 49ers have been scrambling to fill those spots all season,” with “those” being wide receivers. Allen can line up in multiple spots and can help weather the storm until the Niners get fully healthy. Regardless, he’ll serve as the ultimate role player and security blanket for Brock Purdy.
Graziano also mentioned that the Jaguars were in on DeForest Buckner before he landed with the 49ers. I wonder where the Niners would have pivoted if Jacksonville had gotten Buckner.
